Hundreds of girls at a Mexican boarding school run by Roman Catholic nuns have been hit by a mystery illness that the authorities say is psychological. Headmistress Margie Cheong, a nun from South Korea, said it was unclear what causes the symptoms, which include difficulty walking and nausea. Some 600 of the 4,000 pupils at the Villa de las Ninas school outside Mexico City have been affected. The outbreak has prompted allegations of abuse by the nuns. 'Strict discipline' Mother Superior Margie Cheong said she regretted not immediately informing parents, when the first cases occurred in October. ... http://news.bbc.co.uk

Pakistan's government has told the BBC it will take action against the head of a radical mosque in Islamabad, following comments he made on Friday. Maulana Abdul Aziz said he was ready to set up an Islamic court to stop "vulgar activity" and warned of suicide attacks if the state acted against the mosque. A government official said restraint would be used to deal with the matter, to avoid "a law and order situation". He said negotiations were under way to stop a repeat of the "silly remarks". The government is facing calls to clamp down on students in two madrassas attached to the mosque, whom human rights groups say are "terrorising ordinary citizens in the name of Islam". If the government does take action, "our last resort will be suicide bombings", Mr Aziz declared to thousands of followers during Friday prayers. ...http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6535363.stm

The captain and five officers of a cruise ship that sank off an Aegean Sea island were charged Saturday with negligence, state television reported. The six officers were charged with causing a shipwreck through negligence, breaching international shipping safety regulations and polluting the environment, state NET said. All were released pending further investigations. If convicted, the officers face a maximum five-year sentence. Nearly 1,600 people were retrieved from the sinking ship Thursday in a three-hour rescue operation after the vessel foundered on a volcanic reef, but some passengers complained of an insufficient supply of life vests, little guidance from crew members and being forced into a steep climb down rope-ladders to safety. Divers continued to search for a Frenchman and his daughter who disappeared after their cabin flooded with water when the ship struck rocks. ...http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/07/world/main2660233.shtml?source=RSSattr=World_2660233

Gunmen opened fire on Shiite Muslims in a remote town in northwestern Pakistan, triggering gunbattles between majority Sunni and minority Shiites that left at least 40 people dead and 43 wounded, officials said Saturday.The trouble began Friday when unidentified people began shooting at Shiites near their mosque in Parachinar, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) southwest of Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier province bordering Afghanistan....http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-04-07-pakistan-violence_N.htm?csp=34

Israeli helicopters fired into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, killing one Palestinian militant, in what local residents said was the fiercest exchange between Israeli forces and militants since a November truce.The escalation in Israeli military activity came after Defence Minister Amir Peretz authorized limited strikes just inside Gaza to try to prevent militants from planting explosives, digging tunnels and firing rockets at Israeli towns. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on members of his presidential guard and national security forces to step up efforts to prevent the rocket fire so "that our people can lead a safe life." The presidential guard and national security forces are loyal to Abbas's Fatah faction. Tensions remain high in Gaza between secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas despite the formation of their unity government on March 17. ...http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3018495

A man who escaped from jail and eluded authorities for more than five months said he disguised himself as a state trooper and spoke with a real trooper during his time on the run, a newspaper reported.Ralph “Bucky” Phillips, who is serving 40 years to life in prison for killing a state trooper and wounding two others, told The New York Times in a story published Saturday that his time as a fugitive wasn’t bad.“I enjoyed those few months more than I’ve enjoyed any other time in my life,” said Phillips, who is serving his sentence at the Clinton County Correction Facility. After escaping from the Erie County Correctional Facility April 2, the former fugitive led police on a massive manhunt before being captured in a field just across the Pennsylvania line on Sept. 8.Now Phillips is telling how he spent his time on the lam....http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17993759/